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Wilsonville, OR – The Democratic Party of Oregon held a press conference today to announce an absurd complaint against GOP Nominee Knute Buehler for spending too much time campaigning for Governor outside of his State Representative District in Bend, with a clear intent to distract from Governor Brown’s dismal public polling numbers.

“Democrat leaders might not like the poll that came out yesterday, but it sure is clear that they can read it and are getting desperate to salvage the political fortunes of failed incumbent Governor Kate Brown,” stated Oregon GOP spokesman Kevin Hoar. “The Democratic Party of Oregon’s hastily arranged news conference this morning was clearly a panicked attempt to distract from the public polling news of Kate Brown’s declining political fortunes in her race with GOP Nominee Knute Buehler.”

“The Democratic Party of Oregon’s complaint seems to be that they believe that State Representatives who are not from Portland or Salem are not permitted to campaign for Governor, even though the state legislature is not in session and Knute Buehler’s constituent services continue to operate without interruption.”

Most state legislators who aren’t a brief car trip away from the State Capitol have to maintain temporary residences in or near Salem as part of their legislative duties. Republican candidates running for statewide offices must often spend many weeks traveling and staying in many locales beyond the districts they serve, while Democrat candidates tend to focus on a handful of urban areas, mostly in the Portland Metro area.

“The Democratic Party of Oregon’s complaint is worse than just a silly political gimmick, it conveys the very kind of elitist attitude over the years that Oregonians living outside of the Democrat party stronghold of Portland have come to resent,” said Hoar. “Knute Buehler actually cares about the struggles and concerns of working families, small businesses, ranchers, and many others not living in the places Kate Brown relies on for most of her votes. These same Oregonians want a Governor who listens to and addresses the problems they face, instead of Kate Brown, who prefers to impose on them from afar, only showing up for shallow photo ops.”

“While Governor Brown and her partisan minions try to focus attention on her baseless complaint, they are also dodging the issues-based public dialogue being driven by her opponent Knute Buehler as he rolls out one set of bold and effective policy prescriptions after another,” added Hoar. “They don’t want to have a real debate about the issues because it draws more attention to the litany of failures that have happened under Brown’s watch as governor.”

“Kate Brown is never going to improve, but Oregon can - by replacing her with Knute Buehler this November.”

The Oregon Republican Party is the state’s arm of the Republican National Committee. Its Chairman and officers are dedicated to preserving and advancing Republican principles within the state of Oregon and to improving the lives and livelihoods of Oregon’s working families through economic freedom and equal protection under the law.